Structural and Functional Analysis of the Lectin-like Protein Llp1 Secreted by Ustilago maydis upon Infection of Maize
Abstract
The biotrophic fungus Ustilago maydis, which causes smut disease in maize, secretes numerous proteins upon plant colonization. Some of them, termed effectors, help to evade plant defenses and manipulate cellular processes within the host. The function of many proteins specifically secreted during infection remains elusive. In this study, we biochemically characterized one such protein, UMAG_00027, that is highly expressed during plant infection. We show that UMAG_00027 is a secreted protein with a lectin-like fold and therefore term it Llp1 (lectin-like-protein 1). Llp1 decorated the fungal cell wall of cells grown in axenic culture or proliferating in planta, which is in agreement with its potential sugar-binding ability. We were unable to identify the precise sugar moieties that are bound by Llp1. CRISPR/Cas9-mediated deletion of llp1 reveals that the gene is not essential for fungal virulence. A structural search shows the presence of several other lectin-like proteins in U. maydis that might compensate for the function of Llp1 in ∆llp1 mutants. We therefore speculate that Llp1 is part of a family of lectin-like proteins with redundant functions.
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BibTeX
@article{christ2026structural,
title = {{Structural and Functional Analysis of the Lectin-like Protein Llp1 Secreted by Ustilago maydis upon Infection of Maize}},
author = {Marvin Christ and Itzel Rubio Elizalde and Paul Weiland and Antonia Kern and Thomas Iwen and Christopher-Nils Mais and Jan Pané-Farré and Stephan Kiontke and Florian Altegoer and Johannes Freitag and Gert Bange},
journal = {Journal of Fungi},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.3390/jof11020164},
url = {https://hal.science/hal-05780517v1},
note = {CC BY},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Structural and Functional Analysis of the Lectin-like Protein Llp1 Secreted by Ustilago maydis upon Infection of Maize
AU - Marvin Christ
AU - Itzel Rubio Elizalde
AU - Paul Weiland
AU - Antonia Kern
AU - Thomas Iwen
AU - Christopher-Nils Mais
AU - Jan Pané-Farré
AU - Stephan Kiontke
AU - Florian Altegoer
AU - Johannes Freitag
AU - Gert Bange
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/06
JO - Journal of Fungi
DO - 10.3390/jof11020164
UR - https://hal.science/hal-05780517v1
AB - The biotrophic fungus Ustilago maydis, which causes smut disease in maize, secretes numerous proteins upon plant colonization. Some of them, termed effectors, help to evade plant defenses and manipulate cellular processes within the host. The function of many proteins specifically secreted during infection remains elusive. In this study, we biochemically characterized one such protein, UMAG_00027, that is highly expressed during plant infection. We show that UMAG_00027 is a secreted protein with a lectin-like fold and therefore term it Llp1 (lectin-like-protein 1). Llp1 decorated the fungal cell wall of cells grown in axenic culture or proliferating in planta, which is in agreement with its potential sugar-binding ability. We were unable to identify the precise sugar moieties that are bound by Llp1. CRISPR/Cas9-mediated deletion of llp1 reveals that the gene is not essential for fungal virulence. A structural search shows the presence of several other lectin-like proteins in U. maydis that might compensate for the function of Llp1 in ∆llp1 mutants. We therefore speculate that Llp1 is part of a family of lectin-like proteins with redundant functions.
SN - 2309-608X
ER -